MOTORSPORT: Holden keeps Ingall in V8 Supercars

Holden has orchestrated another full season in V8 Supercar racing for veteran driver Russell Ingall – with backmarker team Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (LDM).

Confirmation came today that Ingall, the oldest driver in the sport (his age is stated as 49, although that is widely thought to be a little charitable) who has claimed he was never retiring (as was widely thought), has tied up with the youngest holder of a Racing Entitlement Contract.

It will be the fifth year as a V8 Supercar team owner for 24-year-old Lucas Dumbrell, younger brother of Triple Eight Race Engineering endurance co-driver Paul Dumbrell and a quadriplegic since 2008.

LDM has scaled back from a two-car operation for the new season starting with Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 on the first weekend of March.

It will field a Holden Commodore built by Triple Eight but freshened up over the off-season by Nissan Motorsport, the operation of Kelly brothers Todd and Rick that previously ran  Holdens but now fields four Nissan Altimas.

The confirmation on LDM hiring Ingall brings the V8 Supercar field for this year to 25 – still three short of the usual 28, with the only other possibility now a second entry from Jonathon Webb’s Tekno Autosports – perhaps for Tony D’Alberto.

Webb has quit full-time racing this year, concentrating on Tekno’s Commodore for Shane Van Gisbergen, but there is speculation that Webb may co-drive with Garth Tander for Holden Racing Team in the season’s enduros.

Holden’s motorsport and sponsorship manager Simon McNamara said Ingall had been a great ambassador for the manufacturer during almost two decades in Australian touring car and V8 Supercar racing.

“We’re very happy to see him back on the grid in a Commodore in 2014,” McNamara said.

“Importantly, it’s also a way of ensuring the team (LDM) doesn’t fall by the wayside like others have during the recent off-season period.

“Lucas is a young, ambitious guy and we’d like to see this team succeed this season and move forward on the grid.

“He’s been working very hard and we support him in this quest to develop his team.”

Dumbrell admitted that Holden had been instrumental in Ingall, the 2005 V8 Supercar champion and a dual Bathurst 1000 winner, joining his Melbourne-based team – which has new backing from Melbourne businessman Phil Munday’s Repair Management Australia.

“Russell brings a lot to our team with nearly 20 years of full-time experience at the top level of V8 Supercar racing,” Dumbrell said.

“He’s far from being a spent force in the sport (despite finishing 15th in last year’s championship in a Walkinshaw Performance Commodore).

“He brings an eye for detail that our team needs that comes from driving for some of the top teams.

“We have a revitalised team and approach this year.

“While we are moving back to a single-car program we have the intent and desire to return to a two-car program in the future.

“It was hard with the (introduction of) Car of the Future (last season) - we had to get two brand new cars and there was a lot going on during the year.

“On top of the mammoth workload we had 10 or 15 massive crashes, which didn’t help the budget or the crew.

“Going back to one car is a way for us to refocus our resources and get all our crew on to one entry - and make sure that’s run properly before we take on too much.”

Ingall’s first appearance in LDM’s VF Commodore will be at the category’s official test day at Sydney Motorsport Park (formerly Eastern Creek) on Saturday, February 15 – which also will mark the debut of the new Volvo S60 V8 Supercars.

“Plenty of people will be asking why would I come to a small team that has been going through some growing pains,” Ingall said.

“But I see it as a challenge to help build the team, move it forward and keep it on the grid.

“There are plenty of ‘hero’ drivers out there that would never ‘lower’ themselves to drive for a small team, but I see it as an opportunity to be involved in something from the ground floor.

“I wasn’t comfortable last year with how things were presented by some parties about my so-called retirement. I always maintained that if there was a suitable full-time opportunity for this season that I would take it.

“I haven’t changed my mind and made a ‘comeback’. I never left the sport or intended to leave the sport.

“There were some good offers to join some well-credentialed teams for the endurance races, but a full- time opportunity was always my main focus.

“My love for the sport and racing cars is undiminished. I love the racing community, it’s given me a lot and I want to stay involved with it.

“Anyone that loves their job or the industry they work in doesn’t want to get pushed out of it before they’re ready.”

2014 V8 Supercar Championship driver line-up:

Triple Eight Race Engineering (Holden Commodores) – Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes
Ford Performance Racing (Ford Falcons) – Mark Winterbottom, Chaz Mostert, David Reyolds, Jack Perkins
Walkinshaw Racing (Holden Commodores) – Garth Tander, James Courtney, Tim Slade, Nick Percat
Brad Jones Racing (Holden Commodores) – Jason Bright, Fabian Coulthard, Dale Wood
Tekno Autosports (Holden Commodore) – Shane Van Gisbergen
Volvo Polestar Racing (Volvo S60 Polestars) – Scott McLaughlin, Robert Dahlgren
Nissan Motorsport (Nissan Altimas) – Rick Kelly, Todd Kelly, James Moffat, Michael Caruso
Erebus Motorsport (Mercedes-AMG E 63s) – Lee Holdsworth, Will Davison
Dick Johnson Racing (Ford Falcons) – Scott Pye, David Wall
Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (Holden Commodore) – Russell Ingall